LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers achieved a historic feat in 2016 when they came back from being down 3-1 in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. His former teammate, Iman Shumpert, recalled how James encouraged the team, which sparked their comeback.
In 2016, the Cavs were against the 73-win Warriors team that beat them the previous year in the Finals. Entering Game 5, James and his squad were cornered. However, Golden State didn’t have their defensive specialist, Draymond Green, who accumulated his fourth flagrant foul in the postseason. The league suspended Green from participating, which gave Cleveland hope.
The latest episode of Shaquille O’Neal’s “The Big Podcast,” released on Monday, included Shumpert as a guest. Adam Lefkoe, O’Neal’s co-host, questioned the 2016 winner on whether James’ words or actions motivated the team to finish the 3-1 comeback.
“LeBron was basically like, ‘We going to go here, we’re going to wen at home. After we win at home, that was going to put pressure on them’. But they kinda don’t even want to win it. They’re going to want to win their last one. Either they get this one at home or we’re going to automatically get six just because nobody wants to come back to Cleveland and do it,” Shumpert said.
“‘We’re going to win this game, I’mma guarantee y’all, we’re gonna win this game, I don’t care what we got to do, we’re winning.’ Draymond didn’t play. Everybody was like, ‘Wait a second, y’all lose superpowers when this man not around? Ain’t no pointing at the sky no more?'”
Iman Shumpert shares what LeBron James told the Cavs when they were down 3-1 to the Warriors.
Watch our new episode ft. Iman Shumpert out now: https://t.co/g3enly76EF pic.twitter.com/s9yLCYM53n
— The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) November 18, 2024
Shumpert didn’t have the best offensive performance during the seven-game stretch against the Warriors. The 3-and-D wing player averaged 3.0 points and 1.6 assists. Their leader, LeBron James, was the star who did most of the offensive work, together with Kyrie Irving. James earned the Finals MVP award, averaging 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists.
Green acknowledges hitting LeBron James on purpose during the 2016 Finals
Green was suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals after his reaction to LeBron James stepping over him in Game 4. The Warriors forward swung his arm and made contact with James. In his appearance at Shaq’s podcast in May 2024, the defensive forward revealed his intentions during his physical altercation with the four-time MVP.
“I tried to hit LeBron and I got suspended for Game 5 of the Finals… and you damn right I tried to hit him. You step over me I’m a grown *** man,” Green said. “You don’t step over my shoulder. There’s a lot of space on the basketball court, I don’t take up that much space. You don’t need to go over my shoulder. You go over my shoulder, you’re disrespecting me as a man. And so I got suspended for trying to make contact. But you throw a heating pack on the court and that’s okay?”
“I would have gotten suspended for the rest of the playoffs.”
– Draymond Green on Jamal Murray’s $100K fine for throwing a heat pack
NEW episode ft. Draymond Green is out now! 🚨 Watch here: https://t.co/kDtzpPfLze pic.twitter.com/6YTqKkv6I3
— The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) May 22, 2024
His absence from Game 5 heavily affected the series. Fortunately for Green, the Warriors won the next two Finals with help from Kevin Durant.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
